The Rapid Prince was built by the Toronto Shipyards, put in service in 1910 and was originally owned by The Richelieu and Ontario company. It was built of steel. Then Canada Steamship Lines took possession in 1914. It jumped the Cascades and Lachine rapids and was known to always be on time. At 4.00pm it would arrive at the Cascade rapids and early in the evening those walking on the boardwalk in Verdun would observe as it left the Lachine rapids; at 8.00pm, it would appear in front of the Clock Tower at the port of Montreal and halfway towards the Jacques Cartier bridge, in would turn around and would berth at the Victoria jetty. The Prince as it was called had 2 serious incidences when it ran aground in 1922 and 1941. In 1922 the Prince ran aground below Heron's island and the passengers were dropped off at the Verdun wharf where the Richelieu boat connected with the La Tortue village on the south shore. The most dramatic beaching of the Prince occured in 1941 due to a pilot error and was put back in service the following year. I distinctly remember as a young boy seeing the Prince aground in the rapids from the Boardwalk. The Prince was very popular as it transported 11,000 passengers in 1947. The Prince made its last descent of the rapids the 18th of September 1949 after 39 years of service.
Guy
Source: La Saga des Rapides by André Ouellette (Translated)
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1 comment:
One of the great advantages of this new site is that we can go back and make corrections to our posts after it was posted wich is a feature not available on the old site. Also, there is no limit as to the amount of space we can use wich is specified in their regulations.
Guy
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